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Outback Heart cover art

Outback Heart

By: Joanne Van Os
Narrated by: Joanne Van Os
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Editorial reviews

The story of Rod Ansell, the "real-life Crocodile Dundee", is one of adventure, romance, and tragedy. Here, Joanne van Os recalls her life with this mercurial man - more than a testosterone-fueled cattle wrangler, Rod was thoughtful, articulate, and an engaging storyteller. The two met amid the media frenzy that followed Rod’s two-month plight of survival in the Outback, during which time Ansell battled crocodiles and ate feral cattle. The couple built a life together, raising two sons amid the heat and dust of the Outback, but their marriage dissolved as Rod’s deep-seated troubles became increasingly apparent. Joanne’s performance betrays her insistence that she "never gave up" on Rod. Recounting their time together, Joanne’s dust-tinged voice reveals feelings of joy, excitement, regret, frustration, and loving devotion.

Publisher's Summary

This is the story of the real Crocodile Dundee, a gripping biography jam-packed with adventure, romance, and misery.

Joanne van Os was just 22 when she met Rod Ansell. At 23, Rod was already a legend in Australia and around the world, having survived alone for two months without supplies in one of the harshest and most remote parts of northern Australia.

But Joanne came to realize that Rod was both a complicated and deeply troubled man. His life ended in tragedy - out of his mind on drugs, Rod became involved in a shoot-out in which a young police officer was killed.

Outback Heart captures the Territory life vividly: the dust, the heat, the struggle, and the larger-than-life characters. But it's also a deeply moving and powerful story of a love affair and a marriage, and the pain of it falling apart.

©2005 Joanne Van Os (P)2006 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd.

Critic Reviews

"Beautifully written, with a flow that takes hold and never let's go...mesmerizing. One of the biographies of the year." ( Australian Women's Weekly)

What listeners say about Outback Heart

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captivating and moving - what a life! a must read!

You need to hear this story. An unbelievable raw, heart wrenching, humerous, captivating and mind boggling life. I can not recommend this book highly enough and is an absolute must read for any Australian!

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Truth is stranger than fiction.

This is an extraordinary true story as much about Rod Ansell as it is about Joanne and outback life. Joanne's narrative takes us with her in her memories of her adventures in the outback and her transition from city girl to the far north's station life.. She doesn't tell us much about her unhappiness though, which must have been hard to deal with in many parts of her life. This book is enjoyable, interesting and factual.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.